Whodunit?
by Mana6
Summary: Post-Ep to “The Catwalk” T’Pol reflects on her time with Archer. Please Review!!! :)


TITLE: Whodunit?  
  
AUTHOR: Mana  
  
KEYWORDS: A/TP (duh ;) )  
  
DISCLAIMER: Not mine, don't sue, just having fun. I'll put them back…mostly unharmed…  
  
RATING: G  
  
SUMMARY: Post-Ep to "The Catwalk" T'Pol reflects on her time with Archer.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Forgive me, I was bored…this is the consequence of my boredom.   
  
Whodunit?  
  
As the door swished closed behind her, T'Pol breathed a sigh of relief. It had been 9 days since she had been alone, in her quarters, and just in general alone. While she didn't usually mind being in a group of humans, the constancy of the situation on the Catwalk had proven to be more than she had planned. It had been cramped, crowded, and the smell, oh the smell had been horrible. She wasn't affected by the human odor much anymore, but being confided in a small space, with 80 plus humans who hadn't been able to shower the entire time, had taken its toll on her. Even her own odor was more than unpleasant.   
  
Dropping her bag by her bureau, she made her way to her bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror, a habit she had picked up from being on this ship, and curled her lip as she took in her appearance.   
  
While she didn't look extremely unkempt, she still did not look clean. Stripping off her uniform, she turned the faucet in the shower on, turning the heat in the water up to almost maximum. Steam clouded the mirror almost immediately.   
  
Stepping into the stream of water, she hissed as the first drops of water hit her skin. Soon, her body adjusted to the heat and she lathered up, scrubbing away the stench that clung to her skin like fur on a Klingon Targ.   
  
As the water beat down on her, she thought back to the last week. Captain Archer had been quite considerate to her after their first night together. Well their first night sleeping in the same room.  
  
He had been very congenial to all the crew, but she had sensed his agitation at having to stay cooped up in the small room for such a long period of time. He needed to "have fun."  
  
On the fourth night, she had been reading a short story on her PADD and the Captain had walked in.   
  
***The door slid open as Archer wearily walked into the room. Casting a small glance at T'Pol, he sat down on his side of the room. He sighed loudly, and leaned back against the bulkhead, closing his eyes and running his hands over his face.   
  
T'Pol raised her eyebrow at his actions, and then went back to reading her story.   
  
Porthos whimpered and walked over to Archer. Nuzzling his head against Archer's hand, he begged for affection. When Archer made no move to pet the pup, Porthos turned to the only other person in the room. Trotting over to T'Pol, he rubbed his face against her thigh.   
  
T'Pol looked down at the dog, and then back at Archer. Seeing that his eyes were still closed, and he was presumably sleeping, T'Pol figured that she might as well pet the dog, so he wouldn't wake the captain.   
  
Raising her hand, Porthos sniffed it and then lowered his head in a submissive gesture. T'Pol ran her fingers lightly across the small ridge on Porthos' head, impressed to find the dogs fur so soft. She continued to stroke the dog's head, each stroke longer and fuller, until her whole hand was rubbing against Porthos' coat.   
  
Porthos' sighed and lay down next to her, his head in her lap. She looked down at the creature; his sad eyes stared up at her. She ran her hand across his ears and looked over at Archer.   
  
He was still sitting in the same position, his head back against the wall, but his eyes were open, watching her actions, a small smile on his lips.   
  
"He wanted attention. You were seemingly asleep and, not wanting the dog to wake you, I decided the best course of action would be to give him the attention he sought," she explained, before he could ask. She turned her eyes back to her story, shielding her gaze from his.  
  
He silently nodded his head and reached over to pick up Porthos. The pup whimpered but quieted as Archer hugged him to his chest.   
  
"What are you doing?" Archer asked.   
  
T'Pol looked back up at Archer. "I'm reading a story."  
  
"Any good?" he asked, moving over to her side of the room. She watched as he scooted across the floor, until he was seated right next to her.   
  
"It is interesting. A mystery novel," she eyed him, and turned back to the PADD.  
  
"Oh, sounds good. Have you ever heard of Sherlock Holmes?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Who are you reading?"  
  
T'Pol looked up at Archer, slightly agitated by his questioning. She was just getting to the good part of the story.   
  
"It is an Agatha Christie novel. Poirot."  
  
"Ah, Hercule Poirot! I love those novels. Which one are you reading?" Archer grinned, pressing in a little closer to read over her shoulder.   
  
"This one is entitled "Murder on the Orient Express."   
  
Archer furrowed his brow for a bit, biting his lip slightly. "I can't recall if I read that one or not. What's it about?"  
  
"Seeing as how I haven't finished it yet, I cannot say. So far a man has been murdered, and Poirot is on the case. I believe I'm almost to the part where we find out "whodunit."  
  
Archer grinned at that and nodded. "I'll have to read that one. I don't think I have. Of course, I might have and just forgotten it. One of the beauties of growing old I guess, you forget what you read so when you read it again, it's like new."   
  
T'Pol raised her eyebrow and set the PADD aside. Archer looked down at her, and set Porthos, who had fallen asleep, down in between them.   
  
T'Pol looked down at the sleeping dog and then back at Archer. "You are not that old Captain."  
  
"Yeah, well, I'm not that young anymore either."   
  
"Indeed, you do not live as long as Vulcan's, but I'm sure you will live for quite a while still."  
  
Archer looked away then, as did T'Pol. Picking up her PADD, she maneuvered it to where she was holding it in front of her and Archer. "Would you like to read the story with me?"  
  
"I thought you were just getting to the good part?"  
  
"I was, but perhaps I missed something earlier on. I was going to read the earlier chapters again before I found out who the murderer was, would you like to join me?"  
  
Archer smiled, knowing that she hadn't been going to do that, and leaned in closer. They both read in silence.***  
  
That night had been a turning point for T'Pol. The two had stayed up late, long enough to finish the whole story. While they had been reading, he had made comments and she had countered them. He had proposed who he believed to be the culprit, and she had argued.   
  
When all was said and done, she had been right, and he had conceded her success with a bowed head and praise.   
  
Then he had crawled back to his side of the room, Porthos in hand, and lain down to go to sleep.   
  
T'Pol thought back, realizing that she had not wished for Archer to leave her side, but knew the thought was irrational.   
  
Climbing out of the shower, she dried off, and walked into her main room to put her pajamas on.   
  
The door chime interrupted her, and she called out a quick "Come in" as she pulled the towel tighter around her form.   
  
She bent over slightly to pull her green silk pajamas out of her drawer, and looked up in time to see Archer walk in.   
  
Standing, she pulled the towel taunt. "Captain?"  
  
"Uh, sorry T'Pol, I didn't know you were…" he trailed off.   
  
"If you will excuse me for one moment," she said, making her way into the bathroom once again. She threw her clothes on and ran a towel over her damp hair, removing the excess moisture from it.   
  
Walking out of the room, she noticed that Archer hadn't moved from his place.   
  
"Captain, may I inquire why you are here?"  
  
"I couldn't sleep. Guess I'm just too excited," he shrugged.  
  
"Excited?"  
  
"Yeah, you know, finally out of that hole in the wall, back in my own room. I just can't settle down."  
  
"I see. Was there something you needed?"  
  
"No, I was just coming to see if you were settled in okay. I'll just go ahead and leave you be. I shouldn't have come this late. You need to sleep," he turned and walked to the door.   
  
T'Pol noticed something sticking out of his back pocket and stopped him before he could exit.  
  
"Captain, what is that in your pocket?"  
  
He turned back to her, "Just a gift." Reaching back, he pulled the PADD from his back pocket.   
  
She raised her eyebrow and gestured for him to stay.   
  
Grinning he walked towards her, "Have you ever heard of Miss Marple?"  
  
The End 


End file.
